Sailing on a Summer Day

Posted on April 28, 2019 by

28 Comments

House with trees and clothesline – Walter Silver Photographs
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/63491f30-e905-0131-b25d-3c075448cc4b

Surrounded by the scent of fresh
white cotton sheets drying
in scorching summer sun
weaving in and out of them,
a sweet young child having fun
chasing dancing sunlight
racing on the baked ground

She has not a care in the world
with her red-gold bouncing curls
giggling in the humid land-locked breeze
while she is imagining herself at the helm
of her daffodil-yellow painted boat sailing
cresting up, up and then down, down
on the brilliant salt-drenched blue-green seas

©2021 Linda Lee Lyberg

Author’s Note: Margaret is hosting at the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads today and has given us some images to choose from and would like us to interpret our chosen image one of three ways. I chose #2.
1)  Use an ekphrastic writing approach by closely observing the photo. (vivid description)
2)  Create a narrative beyond the frame and reimagine the photo (storytelling)
3)  Interpret or impart an impression of sentiment or promise from the photo

Category: PoetryTags: , , ,

28 Comments on “Sailing on a Summer Day”

  4. This brings back childhood memories of when the clothes used to be hung out on the line. I would love playing outside and getting a wiff of the fresh clean scented sheets. For some reason, it was comforting to me.
    Beautifully penned, and thank you for bringing that memory back to me. 😊

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. This is absolutely lovely, Linda! ❤️ I love how you associate “the scent of fresh white cotton sheets drying in scorching summer sun,” and “dancing sunlight racing on the baked ground,” with the little girl’s buoyant and carefree attitude 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. I too played amongst my mothers and grandmother’s clothesline – the fresh scent and the breeze – sometimes we would unclip the pillowcases, pretend we had long hair… 🙂 This poem is very fresh, evokes the essence of abandonment we can sink into when a child…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. Bravo, Linda! This brought back memories of playing hide and seek between Grandma’s sheets hanging on three lines with the strong smell of bleach, clean and fresh!! Always looked forward to crawling into bed with clean sheets! Ha! Wonderful post. Thanks for the memories!!!
    xoxoxo

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  13. Pingback: Sailing on a Summer Day — Charmed Chaos – Rexton digital

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 7,329 other subscribers
Follow Charmed Chaos on WordPress.com
JUST RELEASED!
JUST RELEASED!
Bartender at
Barista at Go Dog Go Cafe
Archives
Awards Top 20 Short Story Blog
POETS CORNER
Translate
Read the Printed Word!
Copyright©2017-2025

© Linda Lee Lyberg and Charmed Chaos. 2017-2025. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Linda Lee Lyberg and Charmed Chaos with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Write Idea, LLC  DBA Charmed Chaos- Mesa, AZ USA